Preparation and properties of Nd-doped BCTH lead-free ceramics by solid-phase twin crystal method

0.5 mol% Nd-doped (Ba 0.85 Ca 0.15 )(Ti 0.9 Hf 0.1 )O 3 (BCTH-Nd) lead-free ceramics were prepared by a solid-phase twin crystal method, where the effects of sintering condition on structure, electrical and optical properties were studied. All the sintered BCTH-Nd ceramics exhibit pure perovskite structure, dense microstructure with several micron grain size , which tends to increase with elevating sintering temperature. All synthesized ceramics have complex dielectric behavior, which presents normal ferroelectrics characteristic with slight dispersion phenomenon. The BCTH-Nd ceramics exhibit excellent piezoelectric and ferroelectric properties and acceptable dielectric performance when sintered at 1480 °C for 2 h. Under 269 nm light excitation, several fluorescent emission peaks are excited with a whole indigo fluorescence, where the strongest emission peak is emitted at 473 nm, corresponding to the 4 G 3/2  →  4 I 9/2 energy level transition of Nd 3+ . Multifunctional performance is fulfilled in the lead-free BCTH ceramics via rare earth doping, which can broaden the application fields of piezoelectric-based materials.